]”Don’t waste time: send help immediately!” Italian authorities are being urged to rescue some 500 migrants on a boat off the coast of Sicily, Alarm Phone said, amid a dramatic increase in sea arrivals in Italy and in the wake of a wreck with many deaths.
The organization operates an emergency telephone line for migrants who are in danger at sea.
The vessel left Libya and is “south of Sicily” in Italy’s maritime search and rescue (SAR) zone, Alarm Phone added. Frontex declined to immediately comment.
A Coast Guard patrol boat set sail from Pozzallo for a sea rescue operation of migrants reported about 130 miles from the port of Ragusa. It would be the boat with about 500 people on board reported by Alarm Phone. #ANSA https://t.co/1taopBPHau
— ANSA Agency (@Agenzia_Ansa) March 10, 2023
Italy’s skills in sea rescues of migrants came under the microscope after the February 26 shipwreck near the Calabria region in the south of the country, where at least 72 migrants died.
Italy’s right-wing government announced on Thursday tougher penalties for migrant smugglers and pledges to crack down on irregular sea crossings while opening legal migration routes.
The announcement did not stop irregular migrant flows, with almost 3,000 people arriving in Italy since Wednesday, compared with about 1,300 for the whole of March last year. Only yesterday, 1,869 migrants arrived on the island of Lampedusa on 41 different boats, as reported by the ANSA agency, speaking of a record number.